Picture of the Day · NASA
Pathfinder on Mars
2026-07-04
On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.
via NASA APOD
Key facts
- Discovered by
- Auguste Charlois
- Discovery date
- 27 May 1887
- Pronunciation
- / ˈ t ɜːr z ə /
- Named after
- Tirzah
- Alternative designations
- A887 KB, 1922 AA, 1965 GC
- Minor planet category
- Main belt
- Observation arc
- 108.44 yr (39609 d)
- Aphelion
- 3.04773 AU (455.934 Gm )
- Perihelion
- 2.50143 AU (374.209 Gm)
- Semi major axis
- 2.77458 AU (415.071 Gm)
- Orbital period sidereal
- 4.62 yr (1688.1 d )
- Mean anomaly
- 327.898 °
- Mean motion
- 0° 12 47.732 / day
- Inclination
- 6.00306°
- Longitude of ascending node
- 73.7538°
- Argument of perihelion
- 196.255°
- Dimensions
- 52.68 ± 3.1 km
- Synodic rotation period
- 7.648 h (0.3187 d )
via Wikipedia infobox
~1 min read
Encyclopedic overview
267 Tirza is a fairly sizeable, very dark Main belt asteroid.
It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 27 May 1887 in Nice. It was his first asteroid discovery.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “267 Tirza” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.